Valley scuppers for building roofs

ABSTRACT

A valley scupper for use in roof constructions on buildings which have valley portions therein. The scupper comprises an elongate housing which has a somewhat V-shaped lower wall sized to fit within the valley formed in the roof construction. In this way, the scupper is highly effective in collecting water. A reduced size forward end is formed on the scupper, also with a V-shaped construction and is adapted for connection to a downspout.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates in general to certain new and useful improvementsin apparatus for draining water from the roof of a building and, moreparticularly, to a scupper which is used on the roof for collectingwater in valley portions of the roof and causing delivery of same to adownspout or like water collecting member.

2. Brief Description of Related Art

In commercially available roof constructions there are frequently usedapparatus which allow for water to be delivered from the roof of abuilding to an exterior portion thereof which allows for that water,such as rain water, to be drained from the building, through adownspout, or other means. This type of device is highly effective wherethere may be a parapet wall which extends upwardly around the peripheryof the roof construction and where it is thereupon necessary to removerain water from collecting on the roof. The roof is frequently providedwith areas which extend through the peripheral wall and allow fordrainage of water. The normal construction is to insert an apparatusknown as a scupper into the opening formed in the wall with an extensionthereon allowing for connection to a downspout. In almost all cases, thebottom wall of the scupper is flat so as to conform to the flat shape ofthe normal roof construction.

In many modern buildings, there is a tendency to provide numeroussections which form a so-called “cathedral” ceiling on the interiorthereof. Moreover, there are also portions in which an addition to anexisiting structure may be of a higher elevation than the existingstructure. In these cases, there is caused a groove. In modern housingconstruction, so-called cathedral ceilings are very popular and therewill be numerous areas in which one portion of a roof is connected toanother portion of a different angular relationship and potentiallydifferent elevation.

In all of the aforesaid constructions in which there is anything otherthan a flat wall, there is a need to remove the rainwater or melted snowwater from the existing roof. Otherwise, water which is pooled on theroof will eventually cause leaks in the roof. In these cases, since theonly available scupper is that of a flat bottomed scupper, many roofingconstruction personnel have attempted to use these flat scuppers bybuilding up around an opening in the wall so as to accommodate the flatbottom of the scupper. This type of build-up to remove water is not veryeffective and also adds much additional labor cost to the formation of adesirable opening in the roof. Thus, if there is a V-shaped sectionformed between two roof areas, the roof construction personnel willattempt to form a hole in the parapet wall or use a flat scupper at thepoint of connection of the two roof sections and attempt to build up byadding additional framing and stucco to literally accommodate thescupper. As indicated, this is costly, time-consuming and also not veryeffective.

It would therefore be desirable to provide a scupper which is adapted tocooperate with valley sections of a roof construction and which allowsfor the removal of water from the roof to a downspout or like member.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, one of the primary objects of the present invention toprovide a scupper for use with valley portions of a roof construction.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a scupper whichhas a bottom wall construction sized and shaped so as to accommodate avalley area of a roof construction and which thereby avoids the need tobuild up an opening in a wall surrounding the roof to accommodate thescupper.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a valleyscupper of the type stated which comprises a portion adapted to fitwithin a valley in a roof construction and a second portion which issized to accommodate a downspout.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a valleyscupper of the type stated which can be made at a relatively low unitcost and which is highly efficient in operation.

It is another salient object of the present invention to provide amethod of directing water in a valley portion of a roof construction toa downspout or similar member for evacuating the water from the roofconstruction without the need to specially build up an area to receive aflat bottomed scupper.

It is still a further salient object of the present invention to providea method of directing water away from a roof construction which has oneor more valleys formed therein in a highly efficient manner.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a scupper ofthe type stated which is effective for use with valley roofs or flatroofs or shed roofs and which is adapted to fit each of said roofs in anefficient manner and which easily allows for connection to a downspoutforming part of the water removal system for the building.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention resides in thenovel features of form, construction, arrangement and combination ofparts and components presently described and pointed out in the claims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates in general terms to a scupper which isadapted to cooperate with valley portions of a roof for removal ofrainwater therefrom. In particular, the scupper of the inventionincludes a tray portion which is somewhat V-shaped in configuration andhas a pair of plates adapted to fit within the valley portion of theroof. An upstanding end wall is connected to repair of plates which areof a generally V-shaped arrangement.

Extending rearwardly from the upstanding wall is an outwardly extendinggenerally rectangularly shaped tube which is in communication with theplates to receive the water from the plates and direct same to adownspout. The rectangularly shaped tube adopts that configurationinasmuch as the downspout is typically rectangular and has an endportion to receive the scupper which is also rectangularly shaped.However, the V-shaped configuration of the plates allows these plates ofthe tray to fit within a V-shaped arrangement of a portion of a roofconstruction.

For purposes of the present application, the term “valley” is that termnormally applied to portions of a roof which have two relatively flatsurfaces thereof meeting at an acute angle which is generally, althoughnot necessarily, in excess of 90 degrees as, for example, about 110degrees to about 160 degrees. As a result, the tray itself preferablyhas the two plates thereof at an angle ranging between 110 to 160degrees. Although the tube is generally rectangularly shaped, it wouldnormally adopt a shape in order to conform to the entrance to thedownspout.

The vertically arranged abutment plate which fits against the fire wallor so-called “firewall” is located between the tray and the tube.Moreover, the various components forming part of the scupper are weldedor otherwise rigidly secured together.

The term “firewall” is that term which refers to a wall entirelysurrounding or otherwise surrounding a portion of a generally flat roofso that the roof itself is not readily seen from a street level.

The term “scupper” refers to that apparatus commonly used with flatroofs for directing water through a firewall or parapet wall to adownspout.

This invention possesses many other advantages and has other purposeswhich may be made more clearly apparent from a consideration of theforms in which it may be embodied. These forms are shown in the drawingsforming a part of and accompanying the present specification. They willnow be described in detail for purposes of illustrating the generalprinciples of the invention. However, it is to be understood that thefollowing detailed description and the accompanying drawings are not tobe taken in a limiting sense.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will nowbe made to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a rear portion of a valley scupperin accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the valley scupper of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the scupper of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view of the valley scupper of theinvention;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the valley scupper; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary side elevational view, partially in section, andshowing the use of the scupper of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now in more detail and by reference characters to thedrawings, 10 designates a scupper identified herein as a valley scupperused for the draining of water from a roof having angularly arrangedroof sections forming a valley therein. The scupper of the inventiongenerally comprises a tray 12 having a pair of flat walls 14 and 16which are connected at a connecting region 18. The walls 14 and 16 areangulated relative to one another at an angle within the range of 110 to160 degrees. The most preferred angle is approximately 130 degrees.

The tray is connected to a vertically arranged upstanding abutment wall20. The abutment wall 20 has an opening 22 which is generallyrectangularly shaped in the manner as best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of thedrawings. Extending forwardly from the opening 22 and beyond theabutment plate 20 is a tubular drain connecting member 24. By furtherreference to FIGS. 1-4 of the drawings, it can be seen that the tubulardrain connecting member or tube 24 is rectangularly shaped incross-section. In this way, the tubular drain connecting member 24 isadapted for connecting disposition to a receiving end of a downspout, ashereinafter described in more detail.

Each of the aforesaid components are preferably formed of a sheet metalmaterial, such as steel, aluminum or the like. Moreover, they arepermanently secured together in the manner as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,typically by welding or any other metal securement technique. It shouldalso be understood that the entire assembly could be molded from asuitable plastic material.

FIG. 6 shows the use of the valley scupper of the invention inconnection with a conventional building construction with the latterhaving a roof 40 and with a valley 42 formed therein. Moreover, thebuilding is provided with an outer wall 44 and a parapet wall orso-called “firewall” 46. In order to drain water from the roof 40, anopening 48 is formed in the parapet wall and the scupper 10 of theinvention is inserted therein. In this case, the scupper has the tube 24extending through the opening 48 and with the plates 12 and 14 extendingalong the valley portion of the roof. The tube 24 thereupon allows forconnection of a downspout 50.

In accordance with the above arrangement, it can be observed that waterfrom the roof 40 will drain into the valley 42. This water will becarried through the firewall 46 and directly to a downspout 50.Moreover, the scupper of the invention effectively fits within thevalley or groove formed in the roof without any special constructiontherefor.

Thus, there has been illustrated and described a unique and novel valleyscupper for building roofs and which thereby fulfills all of the objectsand advantages which have been sought. It should be understood that manychanges, modifications, variations and other uses and applications whichwill become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering thespecification and the accompanying drawings. Therefore, any and all suchchanges, modifications, variations and other uses and applications whichdo not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed tobe covered by the invention.

1. A scupper for removal of water from a roof having a pair of angulatedroof panels which form a valley lower than the surface of the panels,said scupper comprising: a) a housing adapted to fit with respect to theroof and having an opening for receiving water collected on the roof; b)a bottom wall on said housing with a somewhat V-shaped construction andhaving a lower edge adapted to fit within said valley; and c) an outletsection extending from said opening and being adapted for collection ofwater on the roof to drain the water passing through the opening in saidhousing and directing same to an area suitable to receive water.
 2. Thescupper of claim 1 further characterized in that said housing iscomprised of a tray extending over said roof and which tray is comprisedof a pair of surfaces which generally conform to the shape of the panelsforming part of said roof.
 3. The scupper of claim 2 furthercharacterized in that said plates have an angular relationship relativeto one another approximately corresponding to the angular relationshipbetween the two panels of the roof.
 4. The scupper of claim 1 furthercharacterized in that said housing has a generally orthagonally shapedsection which includes said opening extending therethrough and saidplates are arranged so as to direct water into the opening formed insaid orthogonally shaped housing.
 5. The scupper of claim 4 furthercharacterized in that said outwardly extending section has across-sectional shape and size adapted to deliver water to an area forreceiving water.
 6. The scupper of claim 5 further characterized in thatsaid outwardly extending section has a generally rectangularly shapedconfiguration.
 7. A method for removing water from a roof constructionhaving a pair of panels which are angulated relative to one another in agenerally V-shaped configuration and which form a depressed valleytherebetween, said method comprising: a) placing a somewhat V-shapedplate section in flat facewise engagement with a pair of roof panels inthe region of said valley and causing the rainwater thereon to drainonto said plates; b) directing the water on said plates through anopening in a housing connected to said plates; and c) directing thewater passing through said opening into a connecting member for deliveryof the water to a downspout.
 8. The method of claim 7 furthercharacterized in that said method comprises mounting the housing in afirewall associated with the peripheral edge of the roof structure. 9.The method of claim 8 further characterized in that said methodcomprises connecting said outwardly extending member to a downspouthaving the same cross-sectional shape and size.
 10. The method of claim7 further characterized in that said method comprises permanentlymounting said scupper into said roof construction.